cultipediafandomcom-20200213-history
Gordon Melton
J. Gordon Melton (19 Settembre 1942) è professore di Storia religiosa presso l’Istituto per lo Studio della Religione, Università di Baylor, a Waco, Texas. Da oltre quarant’anni, è direttore dell’Istituto di Scienze Religiose Americane, attualmente con sede a Woodway, Texas. Prima di trasferirsi a Baylor nel 2011, è stato specialista in ricerca presso l’Università della California, a Santa Barbara, dove nella Biblioteca Davidson del campus si trova ora la Raccolta sulle Religioni Americane di J. Gordon Melton. Melton è autore di centinaia di articoli e di oltre trentacinque testi sullo studio accademico della religione, inclusa Melton's Encyclopedia of American Religioni (ottava edizione, 2009), Si è laureato al Birmingham-Southern College (BA, 1964), al Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary (Div.M., 1968) e ala North Western University (PhD, 1975), ed è anche ordinato pastore della Chiesa Metodista Unita. E' componente del Consiglio internazionale del Centro Studi di Nuove Religioni (CESNUR) con sede a Torino, di cui è direttore della sede americana e fra gli esperti di riferimento della Nuova Cult Awarness Network (CAN), una associazione gestita da Scientology. Per tali motivi Melton è annoverato fra i cosiddetti apologeti dei culti. Libri * Log Cabins to Steeples: The United Methodist Way in Illinois (Nashville: Parthenon Press, 1974). * A Directory of Religious Bodies in the United States (New York: Garland, 1977). * An Old Catholic Sourcebook (co-authored with Karl Pruter), (New York/London: Garland, 1982). * An Open Letter Concerning the Local Church, Witness Lee and The God-Men Controversy (Santa Barbara: The Institute for the Study of American Religion, 1985) * Magic, witchcraft, and paganism in America: A bibliography, compiled from the files of the Institute for the Study of American Religion, (New York: Garland Publishing,1982), ISBN 0-8240-9377-1. Revised edition co-authored with Isotta Poggi, Garland, 1992. * The Cult Experience: Responding to the New Religious Pluralism (co-authored with Robert L. Moore), (New York: Pilgrim Press, 1982). * Why Cults Succeed Where The Church Fails (co-authored with Ronald M. Enroth), (Elgin: Brethren Press, 1985). * Encyclopedic Handbook of Cults in America (New York/London: Garland, 1986; revised edition, Garland, 1992). * Biographical Dictionary of American Cult and Sect Leaders (New York/London: Garland, 1986). * American Religious Creeds (Detroit: Gale, 1988; republished in three volumes, New York: Triumph Books, 1991). * New Age Almanac, (co-edited with Jerome Clark and Aidan Kelly) (Detroit: Visible Ink, 1991). * Perspectives on the New Age (co-edited with James R. Lewis), (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1992). * Islam in North America: A Sourcebook (co-edited with Michael A. Koszegi), (New York/London: Garland, 1992). * Sex, Slander, and Salvation: Investigating The Family/Children of God (co-edited with James R. Lewis), (Stanford: Center for Academic Publication, 1994). * Encyclopedia of Occultism and Parapsychology editor, 4th ed (Gale, 1996) ISBN 978-0-8103-5487-6; 5th ed (Gale 2001) ISBN 978-0-8103-9489-6 * Finding Enlightenment: Ramtha's School of Ancient Wisdom, Beyond Words Publishing, Inc. Hillsboro Oregon, ISBN 1-885223-61-7 (1998). * American Religions: An Illustrated History (Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, 2000). * The Church of Scientology (Studies in Contemporary Religions, 1), Signature Books (August 1, 2000), ISBN 1-56085-139-2, 80pp. * The Vampire Book: The Encyclopedia of the Undead, ISBN 0-8103-2295-1 * Prime-Time Religion: An Encyclopedia of Religious Broadcasting (co-authored with Phillip Charles Lucas & Jon R. Stone). Oryx, 1997. * Melton's Encyclopedia of American Religions, Thomson Gale; 8th edition (February 13, 2009), 1416pp, ISBN 0-7876-9696-X * Cults, Religion, and Violence, David Bromley and Gordon Melton, Eds., Cambridge University Press (May 13, 2002), 272pp, ISBN 0-521-66898-0 * Religions of the World: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Beliefs and Practices, ABC-Clio (September, 2002), 1200pp, ISBN 1-57607-223-1 * J. Gordon Melton, 'The counter-cult monitoring movement in historical perspective' in Challenging Religion: Essays in Honour of Eileen Barker, James A. Beckford and James T. Richardson, eds. (London: Routledge, 2003), 102-113. * Encyclopedia Of Protestantism, Facts on File Publishing (May 30, 2005), 628pp, ISBN 0-8160-5456-8 * A Will to Choose: The Origins of African American Methodism (New York: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2007)